Long Island crime briefs

NASSAU COUNTY

Judge OKs Corbin's firing of attorneys

A federal judge agreed Thursday that former Nassau County Legis. Roger Corbin could fire the two defense attorneys who had represented him in a case in which he had pleaded guilty to seven felony counts.

In a letter in the files of the Federal District Court in Central Islip, Corbin did not give a reason for his wanting to fire Thomas Liotti and Jennifer McCann except to write, "Suffice it to say, I am more than dissatisfied with your representation."

After U.S. District Judge Sandra Feuerstein agreed to Corbin's request but declined to elaborate on Corbin's reasoning.

In court, Corbin told the judge he had not yet hired a new attorney but was "in the process - still meeting with a number of . . . [attorneys] in New York City." Feuerstein gave Corbin two weeks to hire a new attorney.

Liotti and McCann said afterward they did not understand why Corbin wanted to replace them. Corbin is scheduled to be sentenced in April on his guilty plea last month to three counts of filing false income tax returns, three counts of federal income tax evasion, and one count of lying to a federal agent.

- ROBERT KESSLER

OCEANSIDE

Blood left on fridge leads to robbery arrest

A trace of blood left on top of a refrigerator led police to arrest an Oceanside teen and charge him in a burglary committed in July.

Nassau County police said Christopher Bonas, 19, of 3020 Long Beach Rd., was arrested Wednesday near West Windsor Parkway and Fourth Street in Oceanside and was charged with second-degree burglary.

Police said Bonas broke a rear basement window July 22 to enter the home on Elm Street in Oceanside at about 6:30 p.m. However, police said that during the break-in, Bonas apparently cut himself - and left blood on the refrigerator.

A blood sample was collected by the Crime Scene Section and submitted to the Nassau County Department of Forensic Genetics DNA Laboratory.

It was unclear Thursday how the match was made - whether Bonas was asked to supply a DNA sample or whether police had previously acquired a sample of his DNA.

- JOHN VALENTI

FRANKLIN SQUARE

Woman busted at bank on fake-money charge

A Queens woman was arrested after, police said, she attempted to pass 19 counterfeit $100 bills through her bank account at a Citibank branch in Franklin Square.

Nassau County police said Kerica Hutchinson, 28, of 102-51 186th St. in Hollis, was arrested at 2:50 p.m. Wednesday at the bank.

She is accused of entering the branch on Franklin Avenue and attempting to pass the fake bills through her checking account and then use them to open a savings account.

Hutchinson was charged with three counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument.

- JOHN VALENTI

FLORAL PARK

LIRR signal outage cited for service delays

Emergency crews responding to a signal outage on the Long Island Rail Road main line near Floral Park discovered a broken rail, resulting in service disruptions between Mineola and Penn Station all morning Thursday.

A railroad spokesman, Rich Mendelson, said the situation affected about 30 trains, causing delays of up to 40 minutes through the area.

- JOHN VALENTI